Sleepin in on a Friday

I think I could eat oatmeal every day for the rest of my life. I like oatmeal so much, that there was a period in my life when I was being especially frugal and found myself eating oatmeal for lunch every day and miraculously, I’m still not burnt out on it. I’m pretty sure that a lot of people don’t share this sentiment or find oatmeal a bit on the bland side. Even I can’t eat the exact same oatmeal every day so I try to make it as exciting as I can.

I also should say that I really love sleep, and refuse to get up any earlier than I absolutely have to. I have my mornings down to about a 10-15 minute routine so that I can squeeze out every last minute of precious shut eye before I have to head out into the cold and catch the bus. Because of this, I just am not someone who eats breakfast at home, but do recognize its importance for overall health in my day as a whole so I’m always looking for quick, easy breakfast ideas.

Most often I make my oatmeal at work, I bring the ingredients to work and they sit on my desk all week as I work my way through them, but this week I just felt like something different. Enter overnight oats. If you haven’t done these before or are just looking for a different way to start your day with this heart healthy, fiber full, cholesterol lowering, blood sugar stabilizing gluten free wonder grain, you have got to try them! These oats are full of protein, omegas, and good fats to keep you going until lunch.

Overnight oats are a super easy breakfast and you can’t really go wrong with them, so you have no excuse not to start your day with something delicious and healthy. You put all the ingredients together in the evening and then walk out of your kitchen and don’t look back (except for that late night cookie dough munching). This recipe was about two days worth, but when its this easy, I promise you can do this a couple times a week, or feel free to double to get you through the whole week.

Vanilla Cinnamon Overnight Oats

Servings 2 | Prep time : 5 minutes | Total Time : 8 hours

1 cup organic oats (this time I used Trader Joe’s Organic Multigrain Hot Cereal – Regular oats will work just fine, just make sure they aren’t steel cut)

1/2 cup 2% plain greek yogurt

3/4 cup vanilla unsweetened almond milk

1 tbsp chia seeds

1 heaping tbsp ground flax

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Optional Toppings

Banana

Berries

Nut butter

Coconut flakes

1. Put all ingredients into mason jar, shake and put into fridge overnight. Any container will do, I’m just loving these blue mason jars and use them for everything including my morning smoothies, oatmeal and salads.

2. In the morning, pull your fabulous self out of bed, grab oats on your way out the door or enjoy at home. I topped mine this week with some frozen berries but I think almond butter or any other fruit would really go well with these, they are a yummy palate for just about anything!

*Easily made vegan if you remove the greek yogurt. This can be replaced with a non-dairy yogurt or more almond milk.

*Should also note I ate these cold but they can easily be warmed if you’re wanting something a bit more comforting or live somewhere especially cold and the thought of eating some cold oatmeal is just downright ludicrous.